


over letters. there’s chocolate too.

by starsareoverrated



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, autumn vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26247469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsareoverrated/pseuds/starsareoverrated
Summary: When Draco and Hermione meet for the first time since he employed her and the world went into a systematic lockdown, will an owl-post relationship burgeon further?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	over letters. there’s chocolate too.

'This is strange.'

Quirking an eyebrow at his out of breath companion, he asked, 'What is? Did you run here?'

'Kind of-- my boss is a jerk.' She crossed her leg at the knee and leaned back on the metal bench. 'I've only ever had a civil conversation with you over owl-post.' She peeked sideways at him. 'I'm waiting for you to annoy me, actually.'

'You just got here,' Draco said, folding the Daily Prophet in half and laying it on his lap. 'I've got time to catch up on the "annoying Granger" part.'

'I forgot it was a force of habit for you. What was it-- every day at Hogwarts and twice as much on the weekends?'

His lips twitched up at one corner and Hermione suppressed an untimely grin. No need to give the ferret ammunition so early in their first (alright, second) proper meeting after Hogwarts.

'I'm almost certain you sought me out on purpose, traipsing after me all over the castle,' she needled him further, shrugging.

'Think yourself so important, do you?'

'I wasn't the one hiding behind bushes waiting for you to finish visiting with Hagrid so I could bait you after that especially horrid Potions class.' She rummaged through her coat pockets and brought out a new bar of Honeydukes chocolate.

Taking the chocolate square she offered him, he raised the finger of his other hand as if to punctuate. 'Firstly, I would never willingly go visit that oa-- _Hagrid_. Secondly, that particular Potions class was quite the break from the monotony of listening to Slughorn praise Potter in an endless litany. Also, I would tell you that they were perfectly fine bushes but I doubt you'd go and hide in them to verify.'

'Your hair looks hideous,' he added.

Her jaw dropped slightly and, indignant, she snatched the uneaten chocolate piece from his fingers, popping it into her mouth. Chewing slowly, she took in the silence of the riverside, the still water of the cleaner brook that flowed, and ruminated. 

'So you admit to following me?' 

Turning toward her, he tugged the bar from her hand and took a bite. 'I do not. How did you even know who was hiding in the bushes?'

'Oh. That. Well, we had a map that I might tell you about later if you give me back my own snack,' she said, viciously chomping off a bite from the bar in his hand. Draco's eyes widened. Her tongue left a little wet patch on his fingers he didn't want to focus on too much but which was also very unavoidable because it kept zapping through the nerves of his fingers like he had been hit with a mild stinging hex.

He blew out slowly through his mouth.

'What were we talking about?' she asked, her own cheeks pale but with splotches of colour which made him feel a bit better about his own weakness for Hermione Granger.

'Your boss,' he offered on a whim. That sounded like a sufficiently engrossing subject, considering who said boss was.

Hermione snorted. 'What about him?'

'What is he like?'

'A bit wordy, I'd say. Not to mention that his letters smell like his cologne.'

His heart skipped but he kept his face clear of any excitement. Smirking, he teased, 'And how would you know what cologne he wears?'

'I got a little too close to him today,' she mumbled, chocolate forgotten. 

Draco remembered the incident in their office where she had fallen over her own legs and landed in his lap during what was their first meeting out of their owl correspondence. Since the countrywide lockdown had begun shortly after he had signed Hermione on, they had had lengthy back and forths where he would send her the assignments and she would return them corrected and updated. 

Over time, their interactions changed. It was a subtle shift. They took on a more personal tone. Sometimes, they wrote about themselves in their frequent letters.

Maybe it was because they were both young and not very professional.

He knew her favorite season was autumn, that she adored the multicloured leaves and the vibrancy of the city. He knew she was a massive nature conservationist. If her SPEW campaign in school hadn't alerted him to her generous nature (he had found it quite absurd when he was younger, of course), her endeavors in bringing about basic comforts for magical creatures in the endangered forests of wizarding Britain and preserving the forests in the process was about as loud as any declaration could get.

Looking at her withdrawn demeanor, he sighed. She looked up at him, flicking back some wayward curls.

'Wasn't the scent on the letters different over time?'

She thought about it. 'It was, but...how did I not realize?'

'It was spiked with inactive amortentia, so you would smell different things over time.'

Hermione didn't think her face could get any more red. If what he was saying was true, then...

'When?' he asked quietly. His gaze was fixed on her adorably mutating expressions and he was eager to know if it had been as soon for her as he hoped.

She looked into his eyes, earnest and strangely vulnerable. They were so pale, she could see the bright red and ocher colours of the tree leaves mingling with splotches of green to create a symbolic mixing of both their characters that was yet to occur in the physical world. Somewhere, though, their hearts had already become one when they were busy bantering and teasing and sending each other vague quotes.

'July, maybe,' she whispered. He heard her clearly and this time was not as adept at controlling his facial ticks. 'You?'

'Before,' he told her, 'I didn't need much passive persuasion.'

He reached over and enclosed her hand, now a bit stained with melted chocolate. Her breath halted and she entwined her fingers with his.

'How?' her voice was high, and a touch disbelieving.

He laughed. 'How? You were like fire, Granger, and I could feel you even through those letters. Your angry missives, those gentle confessions have wrung me out, and I am a newer man for it. How, she asks!'

'I liked talking to you too.' She leaned down and kissed his fingers with feather light brushes of her lips.

Tipping her chin up, he pressed his lips to hers in a quiet but sure declaration of his intentions.

'I loved it,' he intoned, voice gruff, 'and you.'

She closed her eyes and leaned against him. She could hear the hum of the river and the wind bellowing around them. A few crimson leaves fell from their branches, forever severing themselves from their maker but coming to rest against each other on the cooling earth.

'So...a date?' Draco asked, his own eyes shut as he breathed in her scent, sharp with delectable layers of sweetness.

'We are on a date right now,' she said.

They both laughed.


End file.
